Is Mission 34 the Hardest Challenge In Video Game Racing?

Mission 34 is spoken in hushed tones, reverant, a challenge not to be taken lightly. Thousands of pretenders have thrown their controllers in frustration. Millions of hours of practice have been squandered. And yet, the last mission in Gran Turismo 4's notoriously difficult driving challenges starts off with a simple premise: chase down five near-vintage Mercedes-Benz sports cars, for one lap at the Nürburgring, a requirement of precision and focus that fits neatly with the German theme.

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You are in a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. The lead car is a 1954 300SL Gullwing coupe. It has 212 horsepower and a swing-axle rear but also a time advantage of 123 seconds—on a track as formidable as the Nürburgring Nordschleife, it can feel like eternity.

It is a celebration of vintage Mercedes, barely scratching the surface of the company's notable cars. And yet, you are in the latest and greatest: the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, a gullwinged supercar with proper Formula One technology that seems all but forgotten today.

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Whither the SLR, anyway? It seems to have fallen off our radar: we rarely spot one at Cars and Coffee, we never reminisce about it on all your proper social media channels. With 40% of McLaren under its wing, Mercedes threw everything at building a supercar for the new millennium: a carbon fiber tub, hand-built, supercharged V-8 engine, aggressive air brake, Formula One styling, a name dug up from history. And dear Lord, the special editions: one was called "722," because Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson started their 1955 Mille Miglia entry at 7:22 in the morning. (How esoteric is that? They may as well have named one after Sir Moss's shoe size, which having never met the great man is, I'm assuming, 8.5.) They chopped the roof off and built a mind-boggling monopostoand named it after Sir Stirling himself. Even after it went out of production in early 2010, after Mercedes' and McLaren's messy divorce, there was a McLaren Edition of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which was "more McLaren and a little less Mercedes," says EVO.

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Now, you get to drive one—either through your thumbs via the DualShock 2 controller, or via a fancy force-feedback steering wheel, you hardcore racing-simmer, you. How difficult is it? It is incredibly difficult, says the forum-goers of GTPlanet.com. You must accomplish some 1-Lap Magic, at the hardest racetrack in the world, in a 617-horsepower supercar imbued with imperfect handling, while nailing your overtakes perfectly. And if you fail and try again, you have to sit there and wait for all the slowpokes to leave for a minute and a half.

Study up. Then watch the successful video above for evidence, and note just where the SLR manages to fiiiiinally pass the 300SL—defeating the nemesis of 60-year old machinery as well as time itself.

Mercedes-Benz, if you're paying attention: this would make a great premise for your next "viral video." C'mon. Make it happen. Have your people (Hamilton, Rosberg) talk to our people (Baruth, presumably).